Is it true that law schools may not accept me if I graduate next August?

inactive

Hey 7Sagers,

Someone sent in a question I thought you could help with! Here it is:

I'm a 7Sager and have been loving it so far. I just have a law school related question and I didn't know where to post it on the website, hence this email. I'm an undergrad and I will be graduating in the summer (August) of 2016. My plan was to apply and start law school that fall of 2016. I will be taking the LSAT in October this year and will start applying to law schools soon after. I just started realizing that law schools may not accept my application since I will not have graduated with my Bachelor's when I turn in my application. I HAVE TO go to law school fall of 2016, otherwise I will have to wait until the following year which I cannot afford. Is it true that law schools may not accept me if I graduate next August? I am losing my mind! Please help!

Almost a Boomer

I have looked in to this previously and I'm quite certain of this: as long as you receive your degree before the start of law school, it is not a problem. So, if you finish your last class in summer school, but your law school starts later in that summer, it is OK. You should confirm with your target school, however.

Pacifico

No one who goes K-JD will have graduated college before submitting their applications, and I don't know how they would find out you would be graduating in August versus May or June before you show up to law school. You're almost no different than more than half of the applicants to law school every year, so I don't see what the big deal is. The only issue I could foresee is that your graduation is after orientation or classes start in August. But as long as you can show up to law school as a college graduate then nobody would care. As @taehyung said, I would perhaps place a call to at least a few target schools, if not all of them so you can just check how it meshes with their needs. They might want proof before your show up so depending on that timeline you could run into issues but questions like these are harmless to consult an admissions department.

amanda_kw

As both @Pacifico and @taehyung stated, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you complete undergrad before the day law school starts. The only issue I see would be with your GPA, because that won't be available until very soon before school starts. You might gain conditional acceptance based upon grades from your summer classes.

But, why do you have to go to law school immediately after undergrad? Law school is hard, and burnout is very real - especially if you only have a few weeks break between undergrad and law school. You say you can't afford not to go, but can you afford to rush into an amazingly expensive law school program without fully considering it? I'm not saying you haven't, but taking a year off to get everything in order isn't the worst thing that could happen. In fact, it could be the best thing. Just my 2 cents from my own experiences.

nicole.hopkins

@"amanda_kw" said:
You say you can't afford not to go, but can you afford to rush into an amazingly expensive law school program without fully considering it?

Word.

I was really (!!!!!!!!!) poor, with no family support, after I graduated from college, and I lived in NYC. Others I know took very, very low-paying jobs and, alas, survived. That you "can't afford it" suggests to me that there may be a number of other options that have not yet earned your serious consideration. Do consider other options, if for no other reason than to prove to yourself that one way is not the only way.